Drying kinetics of bananas by natural convection: Influence of temperature, shape, blanching and cultivar Cinética de secagem de bananas por convecção natural: Influência da temperatura, formato, branqueamento e cultivar

The influence of variables as temperature, solid shape, temperature, branching and cultivar on drying of bananas were studied. Bananas from cv. Prata and D'água, on disk and cylindrical shape, blanched or not, were dehydrated in a tray dryer in natural convection at 40 and 70ºC. Drying behavior was analyzed by using a mathematical model. The exponential model showed good agreement to experimental data (r² 0.93 - 0.99 and standard error: 0.01- 0.05). Temperature presented positive influence on drying rate in all the tested conditions. With respect to the sample shape, the disk shape carried out to significantly higher drying rates only for D'água cultivar without blanching. Blanching was significantly influent, with positive influence, on drying rate of banana cv. Prata at 40º C. The influence of the cultivar did not present a defined tendency.<br>No presente trabalho, estudou-se a influência de variáveis como temperatura, formato do sólido, branqueamento e cultivar na secagem de bananas. Bananas cultivares Prata e D'água, nos formatos disco e cilindro, branqueadas ou não, foram desidratadas em secador de bandejas com convecção natural nas temperaturas de 40 e 70ºC. O comportamento da secagem foi analisado utilizandose modelagem matemática. O modelo exponencial mostrou bom ajuste aos resultados experimentais (r²: 0,93 - 0,99 e erro de estimativa padrão: 0,01 - 0,04). A temperatura apresentou influência positiva na taxa de secagem em todas as condições testadas. Com relação ao formato das amostras, o formato disco conduziu a taxas de secagem significativamente maiores somente para o cultivar D'água e sem branqueamento. O branqueamento se mostrou significativamente influente, com influência positiva na taxa de secagem da banana Prata a 40º C. A influência da cultivar não apresentou uma tendência definida

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies six novel loci associated with habitual coffee consumption

Coffee, a major dietary source of caffeine, is among the most widely consumed beverages in the world and has received considerable attention regarding health risks and benefits. We conducted a genome-wide (GW) meta-analysis of predominately regular-

Large-Scale Exome-wide Association Analysis Identifies Loci for White Blood Cell Traits and Pleiotropy with Immune-Mediated Diseases

White blood cells play diverse roles in innate and adaptive immunity. Genetic association analyses of phenotypic variation in circulating white blood cell (WBC) counts from large samples of otherwise healthy individuals can provide insights into genes and biologic pathways involved in production, differentiation, or clearance of particular WBC lineages (myeloid, lymphoid) and also potentially inform the genetic basis of autoimmune, allergic, and blood diseases. We performed an exome array-based meta-analysis of total WBC and subtype counts (neutrophils, monocytes, lymphocytes, basophils, and eosinophils) in a multi-ancestry discovery and replication sample of ∼157,622 individuals from 25 studies. We identified 16 common variants (8 of which were coding variants) associated with one or more WBC traits, the majority of which are pleiotropically associated with autoimmune diseases. Based on functional annotation, these loci included genes encoding surface markers of myeloid, lymphoid, or hematopoietic stem cell differentiation (CD69, CD33, CD87), transcription factors regulating lineage specification during hematopoiesis (ASXL1, IRF8, IKZF1, JMJD1C, ETS2-PSMG1), and molecules involved in neutrophil clearance/apoptosis (C10orf54, LTA), adhesion (TNXB), or centrosome and microtubule structure/function (KIF9, TUBD1). Together with recent reports of somatic ASXL1 mutations among individuals with idiopathic cytopenias or clonal hematopoiesis of undetermined significance, the identification of a common regulatory 3′ UTR variant of ASXL1 suggests that both germline and somatic ASXL1 mutations contribute to lower blood counts in otherwise asymptomatic individuals. These association results shed light on genetic mechanisms that regulate circulating WBC counts and suggest a prominent shared genetic architecture with inflammatory and autoimmune diseases

A genome-wide cross-phenotype meta-analysis of the association of blood pressure with migraine

Blood pressure (BP) was inconsistently associated with migraine and the mechanisms of BP-lowering medications in migraine prophylaxis are unknown. Leveraging large-scale summary statistics for migraine (Ncases/Ncontrols = 59,674/316,078) and BP (N = 757,601), we find positive genetic correlations of migraine with diastolic BP (DBP, rg = 0.11, P = 3.56 × 10−06) and systolic BP (SBP, rg = 0.06, P = 0.01), but not pulse pressure (PP, rg = −0.01, P = 0.75). Cross-trait meta-analysis reveals 14 shared loci (P ≤ 5 × 10−08), nine of which replicate (P < 0.05) in the UK Biobank. Five shared loci (ITGB5, SMG6, ADRA2B, ANKDD1B, and KIAA0040) are reinforced in gene-level analysis and highlight potential mechanisms involving vascular development, endothelial function and calcium homeostasis. Mendelian randomization reveals stronger instrumental estimates of DBP (OR [95% CI] = 1.20 [1.15–1.25]/10 mmHg; P = 5.57 × 10−25) on migraine than SBP (1.05 [1.03–1.07]/10 mmHg; P = 2.60 × 10−07) and a corresponding opposite effect for PP (0.92 [0.88–0.95]/10 mmHg; P = 3.65 × 10−07). These findings support a critical role of DBP in migraine susceptibility and shared biology underlying BP and migraine

Publisher Correction: Sex-dimorphic genetic effects and novel loci for fasting glucose and insulin variability (Nature Communications, (2021), 12, 1, (24), 10.1038/s41467-020-19366-9)

The original version of this Article contained an error in Fig. 2, in which panels a and b were inadvertently swapped. This has now been corrected in the PDF and HTML versions of the Article